Can we do
something about the “bad luck”
Let’s
ask ourselves, even though we have no choice for the trip provided to us (the
journey of our lives provided by nature), there is a lot we can do to make the
trips safer and with fewer chances of getting involved with accidents. For example, we can make sure the car is well
maintained and we can drive more carefully by not speeding and not tailgating. I believe that this strategy works similarly
in reducing the risk of cancer.
We
can reduce bad foods and eat healthful foods; we can do regular exercise
instead of being lazy; we can relax as needed instead of being under stress all
the time; we can get rid of our bad habits (e.g., smoking and heavy drinking);
we can avoid exposure to carcinogens and bad living environment. All these could make the journeys of our normal/stem
cells (i.e., cell cycles) safer and with fewer accidents, i.e., lower the chances
for cell mutation to become cancerous.
In
addition, by doing the right things onto ourselves (eventually onto our normal/stem
cells), we can maintain healthier cell cycles for our normal/stem cells so that
the check points in the cycles (G1, G2, M check points)
are less prone to mistakes. If the check
points are not healthy, they tend to allow damaged cells to continue the cell
cycle to grow or divide and they might become cancer cells. The other aspect about stem cells is the
duration of cell cycle. Some stem cells
in the body don’t reproduce as quickly as the others; some stem cells may be
stimulated by the environmental factors to grow and reproduce faster. In this case, some things can be done to
reduce the stimulation and then slow down the growth/replication of stem
cells. Therefore, it is possible to take
some actions to reduce the chances of bad luck from happening.
In
short, don’t be discouraged by the two-thirds of bad luck; many of them are
attributable to macro- and micro-environmental factors, on which we do have
some control.
Yes, accidents do happen in many aspects of one’s
life. Theoretically, anyone may be
subject to the possibility of an accident such as earthquake, tornado, flood,
robbery, car accident, etc. However, one
can always reduce the chances for the accidents to happen. For example, one does not have to live in an
earthquake zone; one can also live in an area with lower frequency of tornados,
a higher area with lower flood opportunities, and areas with lower crime rates. By doing so, can anyone say that he or she is
100% free from of any accident? The
answer is NO. That’s why we need life insurance,
home insurance, and auto insurance.
However, the chances of accidents happening can be significantly reduced
by one’s proactive actions.
I think you’ll agree that there is no
guarantee for anything. Unfortunately,
that is how life is. For cancer
prevention, all we can do is to reduce the chance of getting it. With today’s knowledge derived from the
research work by thousands of scientists, we can really significantly reduce
the chances of getting cancer.
In summary, although no one can guarantee that
he or she will never get cancer, but there is a lot one can do to significantly
reduce the chances of getting cancer.
© Jiajiu Shaw, 2018
Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.
